Snakes and Lattes debuts a brand-new, two-way Bitcoin ATM

Toronto got its very first Bitcoin ATM last year, when a machine was installed at 64 Spadina Avenue, headquarters of Bitcoin-business incubator Decentral. (Anyone who needs a primer on the digital currency should read this.) At the time, that machine only let users buy bitcoins; it wouldn’t exchange them for cash. Bitcoiners looking for a more reciprocal experience now have two options: today, Decentral unveiled a new two-way Bitcoin machine. And earlier this week, Toronto-based operator Bumblebee Exchange set up its first Bitcoin ATM (also two-way) at Snakes and Lattes, the board-game café at Bloor and Palmerston.

Snakes co-owner Aaron Zack says there’s a big Toronto Bitcoin community, which, not entirely surprisingly, overlaps with the city’s hardcore-gaming community, making the café a good fit for on-the-spot cryptocurrency conversion. “It’s actually getting a lot of use,” Zack said. “People are coming in just to see it.” Snakes and Lattes is also testing out a new payment system: Bitpay, which lets customers pay directly with Bitcoin. “We’re in trial-run mode right now, but we’ll likely launch the system this summer,” said Zack.